聖尊週六同修接續講解六祖壇經

Grand Master Lu`s Dharma Talk at Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple, Redmond, Washington


六祖說：「小根智人若聞法，心生不信，何以故？譬如天龍下雨於閰浮提，城邑聚落，悉皆漂流，若漂草葉；若雨大海，不增不減。」

When those with limited wisdom and faculties hear this dharma, doubt shall arise. Why is it? Should the dragon deluge Jambudvipa (this world) with pouring rain, settlements are washed away like drifting grass and leaves. Should the rain fall on the great ocean, nothing adds or subtracts.

For example, during Typhoon Morakot, when the heavy rain was dumped in the southern mountains in Taiwan, CNN reported that the precipitation for that day was equal to that of a whole year. The rains flooded houses. Mountains collapsed and caused mudslides, and all trees fell down. Everything was just like drifting grass and leaves. Human beings seemed so insignificant and the houses were no different than the leaves and grass that washed away. If the rain hadn`t fallen on Taiwan but on the Pacific Ocean, it would have been nothing at all. Pacific Ocean is still an ocean, with no rise or drop.

Jambudvipa means samsara. If it rains on the samsara, things float away. If it rains on the great ocean, the water in the ocean will neither increase nor lessen. The ocean here is similar to those with superior wisdom and faculties. Those with limited wisdom and faculties are just like streams and rivers. The ocean has a large capacity to hold all rainfall, but streams and rivers do not.

Buddhist practitioners should have great capacity/tolerance. Learn to be an ocean to accommodate hundreds of rivers. This is the tolerance that Acharya Lian Miao was referring to.

To practice Buddhism is to be happy everyday. If you have great capacity, you will be happy everyday. If you are a person with limited wisdom and faculties, you`ll be unhappy everyday. If you are a person with superior wisdom and faculties, I will help you develop and grow. If you are a person with limited wisdom and faculties, I won㦙 give up on you either. I will teach you dharmas and principles and help you grow your capacity.

Translated by: TBTT
Summarized by Flora Cheung, Proofread by Angela Yeh, Edited by Morgan Chiu